Always and Forever
by alwaysavampiregirl
Summary: Bella and Edward fanfic. Bella and Edward discover he's been drafted. Read if you love military Edward. My first fanfiction, so please be gentle. Read and Review!
1. Chapter 1

The train was coming in twenty minutes. I couldn't do this. People were lined up on the platform as far as I could see. Mothers and sisters were huddled around their young boys prattling on about clean socks and proper manners. They avoided talking about their impending departure and put on a brave face. The boys stand tall answering all the requests their mothers gave them while chatting with their fathers about embarking on this new adventure. I laughed without humor. My goodbye would look very different than theirs. They acted like they knew for certain they would be reunited in the future. I wasn't so sure.

I remember the first time I saw him. It was the summer of 1938. I had just moved to London to live with my aunt Renee and was going to attend a university there in the fall. My aunt's estate was beautifully green and had vast gardens full of colorful exotic flowers. The house was an old Victorian style mansion with vines crawling up the sides. It looked like something out of a fairytale. As we pulled up the driveway, there stood the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. He was dressed in a stark white collared shirt and khakis. He looked to be very tall and muscular with unruly auburn hair. I was mesmerized, shocked, and terrified at the same time by incredible attractive man. The car stopped and he opened my door and held his hand out to me

"You must be Bella. Renee has told me so much about you. My name is Edward Cullen but please call me Edward. I live down the street," He said as he helped me out of the car.

I looked up into his sparkling emerald eyes and everything else ceased to exist. I knew I had found my missing piece. "It's a pleasure to meet you Edward."

We have spent every minute together for the past year. He makes me laugh like no one else can. He makes me feel alive and worthwhile. Like my opinion matters to someone. Six months into our courtship, he asked me to be his wife, to stay by his side forever. I couldn't imagine how life could be so perfect, or what I did to deserve such happiness, but I was eternally grateful for it.

About two months after I accepted Edward's proposal, our bubble shattered. I could never forget that day. I was busy making lunch for Jonathan and myself when Martha—Edward's housekeeper—brought the mail in like she normally did.

"Edward, dear, there is something here for you. It just arrived," Martha said as she set the letter down in front of him.

He started to open the letter and said "That's strange. I wasn't expecting anything."

"I bet it's from your mother," I called over my shoulder as I finished the sandwiches I was making, "She is probably having such a wonderful time in town that she decided to send you a post card."

I walked over and set the sandwiches on the table and look up to find Edward staring at the letter in his hand with a look of utter shock on his face.

I giggled. "What is it? Did you mother buy something completely ridiculous?"

He said nothing, stood up, and walked around the table to where I was standing. He wrapped his arms around me and pressed a tender kiss to my forehead.

"It isn't from my mother."

I tensed in his arms. An unexplainable amount of fear spread through me. "Then who's it from?"

"The government. I am to report for active duty in Berlin," he whispered in to my hair.

"What? There must be some kind of mistake. The mail man must have delivered this to the wrong address," I muttered as I grabbed the letter from his hand. I wanted to see for myself. Surely he was just joking around with me. Though how he thought this was funny was beyond me. I read the letter over and over trying to find the mistake that would allow me to keep Edward here with me. Tears started to burn my eyes as I found there was no mistake and no escape this living nightmare.

"This isn't fair. Why you? Isn't here anyone else they can send?" I started to sobbed. There was no way this could be happening now. Not after everything was going so perfectly.

Edward moved us to the bench in the kitchen with me cradled in his lap. He crushed me to his chest as my sobs wracked my frame and rocked me back and forth.

"Baby, please don't cry. Everything is going to be ok," he whispered in my ear as my sobs started to subside.

"How can it be ok when you're leaving? I can't do this without you. I need you too much," I said as I look up at him. I was starting to get hysterical again.

"Bella, I love you more than life itself. It hurts to be away from you even if only for a minute. I would never do anything to cause you any kind of pain. I only want to see you happy, be the one that makes you happy," He said while looking directly into my eyes. I was so relieved. He was going to stay with me. He wasn't going to go. Everything was going to go back to the way it was.

"But, I have to go."

The squeal of the train whistle brought me out of my daydreams. Back to the horrible reality that brings me to this platform. Edward had one arm wrapped around me and the other clutching his duffle bag. I can't even look at him. It wasn't supposed to be like this. This hurt too much. I couldn't do this. I needed more time. I just couldn't say goodbye or pretend like everything was going to turn out alright. I needed him.

"Sweetheart are you alright? You're shaking," the concern in Edwards's voice startled me. He dropped his bag and tilted my face up so that we were looking at each other.

The tears I had been fighting for weeks started to trickle down my face. I felt so weak. He had handled this news with much more grace that I had. I hadn't wanted to show him how much this was hurting me.

"Hey now, none of that, everything is going to be fine. We are going to be fine. We are going to live happily ever after. This is just all part of our fairytale," he whispered while his fingers wiped my tears away.

"You don't know that," I croaked.

"Yes I do. A love like ours is rare. Special. Created to defy death, withstand time, and ignore distance," He said it with such conviction. I almost believed him.

"But what if…" I started, but he pulled me close and cut me off.

"Shhh. Do you love me?" He was looking directly into my eyes, into my soul, with all the pain and longing he had been hiding from me until now. A fresh round to tears started to fall.

I held his gaze trying to convey how much I loved him with my eyes "You know I do," I vowed.

"Then that's all that matters. I'll come back to you I promise. I swear it. Nothing could keep me away, you know that don't you?" His voice was thick with emotion.

I nodded, too overwhelmed for words.

He pressed his forehead to mine and brought both hands up to rest on either side of my face. He took a deep breath, than lowered his lips to mine for what would be our farewell kiss.

"All aboard!" the conductor shouted.

Edward pulled away from me too soon, but made no move to board the train.

"This isn't goodbye," he whispered.

"No, never goodbye, just see you later," I said softly.

He reached down to collect his things without letting go of me. As he stood up, he looked at me with such uncertainty it frightened me.

"Wait for me?" he spoke so softly I had to strain to hear him.

"Always and forever," I promised as pressed my lips to his for one last kiss.

He pulled away and swiftly boarded the back of the train. I watched as the train took the only thing that means anything to me further and further away until I couldn't see the train anymore.

Now all there was left to do was wait.


	2. Chapter 2

Three weeks. Three horrible weeks have passed since Edward got on that train. Every day I listen to the radio to keep up with what is happening in Germany. When the mail comes, I nearly collapse in fear. I hope and pray to god that we won't get the letter. The one that says he won't be coming back to us. I would fall apart.

I haven't heard anything from him since Edward left. My days used to be filled with laughter and love. Now, I spend my days sitting in front of the bay window, watching the driveway—waiting for him to come back to me. I need him like I need air to breathe. As I'm waiting, I surround myself with the only thing I have left of him. My memories of our time together. The sunlight coming through the window hits my engagement ring and I remind the day he asked me to marry him.

We have spent every day of the last six months together. He made me feel precious and he treated me like I was made of the rarest glass. We were lying in our spot under the weeping willow tree in my aunt's garden. It was our escape from prying eyes. A place where we could just be together without someone watching our every move. He was lying on his back and I was curled up to his side with my arm thrown over his stomach. I was tracing patterns along his stomach.

"That tickles," he whispered and looked down at me.

I looked up at him and was struck by just how much love and adoration radiated from his eyes.

"Do you want me to stop?" I whispered back just was quietly, afraid to break the silence and ruin the intimacy of the moment.

"No, I never want you to stop"

Suddenly, we weren't talking about tracing patterns. His statement was much more profound. It was as if he was asking me to never stop loving him or being with him. The passion in his tone made me sit up a little. I searched his eyes for what could have possibly brought on such a heartfelt declaration. All I found was overwhelming love.

"You really love me don't you?" I questioned softly while still looking in his eyes. It was incredibly hard for me to believe someone so wonderful could want to be with me just as much as I wanted to be with him.

His eyes immediately filled with fiery passion and slight irritation. "You really have no idea do you? You really can't see how much I need you? How completely and totally in love with you I am?"

I sat up completely, startled by his change in mood. He grabbed my face in both of his hands and whispered the most perfect words I had ever heard.

"Silly girl. You are absolutely perfect," he tenderly kissed my cheek.

"You're kind, caring, and have the biggest heart," reverently he kissed my forehead

"You're everything I never knew I always wanted. When I was a little boy, I used to dream of the girl I would rescue from her tower. A girl who would be my perfect match in every way. She would challenge me, support me, but most importantly, she would love as deeply and completely as I loved her. As I got older, I realized I would never find that girl because she didn't exist. And then I met you and you're a million times better than any woman I could have imagined."

His thumbs started gently stroking my cheeks and it was only then did I feel the tears streaming down my cheeks. His affectionately placed a kiss on my other cheek.

He took a deep breath and with so much emotion in his voice whispered to me, "I can't live without you. My world would fall apart. You understand me in ways no one else ever has. You push me to be a better man. I want to be men I see in your eyes when you look at me. You make me laugh and cherish every second of my life because you're in it. For so long, I've felt like I've been missing something. Now I know I've been missing my other half. My soul mate. The first time I saw you that hole in my chest disappeared and everything fell into place. I love you with all my heart and soul. So, Isabella Marie Swan, marry me. Promise to never leave my side. Tell me that I can look into your eyes for the rest of my days and see all the love you have for me. Say that you want a house full of children with me. Swear to love me as much as I love you for the rest of your life and I promise to spend the rest of mine making you as happy as I am at this moment. Six months ago, today, you stole my heart. Tell me now, may I have yours?"

No one had ever said to anything remotely like that to me before. His face looked so sincere, so vulnerable, but his eyes captivated me. They held such love and anticipation, but also uncertainty and fear. He thought I could possibly say no to that?

I composed myself as much as I could and place my hand on his cheek, "You ridiculous man. You've had my heart from that very first day. I love you so much. I would love nothing more than to be your wife."

Relief and joy passed over Edward's face as he pushed me back in the grass and hungrily attacked my lips. His hands moved to my waist as his tongue swiped against my bottom lip asking for permission that I immediately granted. We kissed like that for a few minutes and Edward growled. I giggled.

He pulled away and looked amused, "Find something amusing my dear wife?"

A shudder went thorough me when he called me his wife. I couldn't wait for that to be true.

"I'm not your wife yet and I don't think it's considered polite to growl at your wife," I coyly responded.

"In all the important ways you are my wife. You're just too tempting for your own good," he mumbled against my neck. We spent the rest of the afternoon cuddled up, kissing, and touching while we thought about our future.

The honk outside brought me out of my daydream. I looked out the window just in time to see the mail carrier place today's mail in the box. I raced outside with equal amounts of fear and anticipation to the mailbox. I tore the lid open and quickly rifled through the letters when I stopped short.

It was here. I had gotten my first letter from Edward.

**A/N: What do you think? Suggestions?**


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